Adventure Magazine Cover — page 39: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

the very excitement. ‘miles north of it. The thing he had feared most about the project was that Hasbrouck would be there ‘In person with some of his men‘to file the contest immediately after the default, and before any one else could take advantage of it. But now that Hasbrouck was flying in the opposite direction this danger was removed. The more he thought about it the more the venture appealed to him for It would be more fun than shooting up a town. “This outlaw business has got to pay some. dividends on the investment,” he told old Spot confidentially, slapping the horse on the neck with the palm of his hand. - He rode on up to his improvised camp, and threw Nevada’s saddle on Sport. ‘Then he rolled up the meager grub sup- ply, the largest share of which was a front quatter of one of Hasbrouck’s “slow elk’’—the other three quarters he had taken to the cabin and Silver Zone as real elk. This, in the middle of his bed-roll, he tied behind the saddle on the-extra horse. Daylight, on the morning of the fifteenth of October, found Dal in the foothills a few miles south of Topaz. Mounting Sport, and leading Spot, he cautiously crossed the hills until he was due east of the town. From here he rode on without old Spot, continuing until he had ridden a semi-circle around the town and stopped about four By coming in from the north and going out the same way he hoped to make people think he was from the Snake River country. The entire country surrounding Topaz was as rough as a washboard, so he was sure that he could lose any pursuers in three or four miles. Old Spot had been un- beaten as a runner around Topaz, and the gray, desert mustang was faster yet. Dal had little doubt, therefore, that Sport could show a clean pair of heels to any hastily gathered posse until they got back to old Spot. Then, by changing horses after a ten or twelve mile heat, he could literally run away from his pursuers. By cutting a wire fence or two he was able to get into the very edge of town un- der cover of the willows that lined Topaz Creek. He dismounted:and tied Sport to a willow bush with a single bow knot . which could be jerked loose with one pull. He looked at his watch and saw that it was just nine-thirty. Thirty minutes more and eee : = Silver: Zone his case = youll be called by the Land Cotes = : missioner. Dal crawled to the edge of the willows : ® and took note of-his surroundings. Like © most Western towns Topaz had never been laid out—it had simply grown up, with © = houses built wherever the whim of the — = : builder dictated: A hundred yards away was the closest building, a livery stable. Then there were two three old shacks — = = and the jail. Another hundred Main Street. abutted thereon, above the White Owl saloon, was the room in which the Land - In one of the buildings that | eee Commissioner conducted his hearings on 2 his monthly visits to Topaz. This was the room into which Dal had to get by means of an outside stairway, open to the vision of all who cared to look. He stood an even chance at least of — slipping from building to building, and 3 finally. getting up the stairway without — being recognized, for there were not many people on the streets at that hour. There was an equally good chance that the Land_ Commissioner, who only spent one day each month in the town, would not connect — him with the Dal Showalter wanted for murder. But it was not so simple as that, for he must first locate Thad and Brick and | let them know his intentions. He knew they would-be in town, for Thad was a stickler on keeping his word, however foolish it might appear to be. But they might be in any of the dozen stores and saloons. Neither of them would dream of Dal really coming back. He decided that he must get in the shelter of either the livery stable or the jail and take chances on seeing one of his friends walking along Main Street; then try to attract his attention. If any of his enemies were in town he knew they would be more likely to be at the livery stable than the jail, — so he strolled out boldly, crossed a vacant lot, passed between two shacks, and. reached the side of the jail without any one taking any notice of him.. He dropped flat of his face with arms and ~ ht legs sprawled out in a credible imitation of — . a drunk man. Again he was banking on the unexpected. Any: place except by the side of the jail a drunk would quickly be picked up. His hat was pulled well down over his face, but between the rim of the hat and the ground was three inches of ie = = light through which Dal peered, getting a com G IOOK —- fe: